Protectors up for tougher AFC Cup

2009 AFC Cup - Group Stage Match
Home United FC vs Binh Duong FC
Tuesday 10 March 2009, 7.30pm
Jalan Besar Stadium

Ticketing Details
Adult $5.00 Include JC, ITE, Pre-university students
Child / Student $1.00 Up to Secondary level (To produce valid student pass as verification)

Gary Koh
info@sleague.com

Home United are eagerly relishing the challenge of taking on more competitive sides in Asia when they kick off their AFC Cup Group H campaign against Vietnamese champions Becamex Binh Duong at Jalan Besar on Tuesday.

With the revamp of the AFC Champions League (ACL) this year, the AFC Cup is also getting bigger in size, stature and quality with former ACL sides in East and West Asia joining in the fray in the expanded 32-team competition.

Despite - or perhaps because of - the rise in standards, Protectors coach P N Sivaji and captain S Subramani cannot wait for the club’s continental adventure to begin.

“The AFC Cup this year is a step up from previous editions, and it is going to be an exciting game where we will begin our Asian adventure,” said Sivaji.

“The AFC Cup is a level higher than the S.League where we will face internationals from other countries in Asia, and teams that have bigger budgets to hire better foreigners to bolster their squads.”

“It is every footballer’s dream to play at the highest level of club football, and the first game will be a very good challenge for us,” added Subramani.

“It is very good to compete against teams that have previously played in the ACL, so that we can see where we stand against the cream of Asian football.”

Sivaji wants Home United to bounce back from defeat in their last S.League match, where they lost 1-3 to SAFFC at Choa Chu Kang last Wednesday.

“I want to see a positive reaction from my players as we come into this match after losing in their previous game.”

He believes it will be an interesting clash in the Protectors’ first encounter with a Vietnamese club in a competitive outing.

“From what I have observed from their matches, Binh Duong play some very attractive football.

“The pitch at Jalan Besar will be ideally suited to help them play their usual game.”

Binh Duong are no newcomers to Asian club football, having participated in the ACL last year against 2008 runners-up Adelaide United of Australia, Chinese Super League side Changchun Yatai and Korean side Pohang Steelers.

The Vietnamese are eager to show what they have learnt from their experience in top-flight continental football and make an impression in their debut appearance in the AFC Cup.

Binh Duong coach Francisco Vital urges his team to forget about their indifferent start to their current domestic league campaign, where they have only recorded one win in four matches so far, and step up another level in the AFC Cup.

“It is important for both teams representing their countries, Singapore and Vietnam, where they are of relatively the same level and quality at club and international level,” noted the Brazilian.

“When you play at home, it is one matter; when you play away, particularly in the AFC Cup, it is going to be very different.

“My experience tells me that this match will not be the same as our domestic games played so far.”

He also insists his players have what it takes to overcome the artificial turf at Jalan Besar and prevail to get off to a good start in their campaign.

“It is going to be different playing on a surface we are not used to playing back home, but as much as the field conditions will be different, the ball is still the same.

“We will still enter the game with 11 men on the pitch aiming to get a good result.”

The V-League champions will enter the match at full strength and boast three Vietnamese internationals - defenders Vu Nhu Thanh and Huynh Quang Thanh, and midfielder Nguyen Vu Phuong - who were instrumental in helping Vietnam win the AFF Suzuki Cup last year.

Home United will be without the services of Cameroonian defender Valery Hiek, who sits out through a one-match suspension after receiving two yellow cards in their quarter-final home loss to Indian side Dempo SC last year.

New signing Japanese forward Norikazu Murakami is meanwhile ineligible in the group stage, as clubs are restricted to only three imports in this competition.

However, they are likely to be boosted by the return of Subramani, who is in full fitness after recovering from a right calf strain that saw him sidelined in their last two domestic league matches.